Everybody who has studied American history knows the phrase “No taxation without representation!” The American Colonists of the 18th century rightfully believed themselves to be British subjects with every benefit entitled to citizens of Great Britain. Because the only obvious difference was geographical location, the Colonists absolutely understood that they possessed rights as Englishmen, including the right to govern themselves (to an extent) based upon tradition. This tradition in turn evolved from the many historical documents, such as the Magna Charta, that established the idea of an English constitution. The Colonists were not directly represented in Parliament and needed some other body of governing persons to approve laws and taxes regarding the Colonies. Therefore, each individual Colony hosted its own group to complete this task. At first, the British shared the Colonists’ view on self governance; but after only half a century, the British Parliamentary Monster grew hungry, and the only way to satisfy its appetite was money. Therefore, the British decided to modify their position to one in which they would condescendingly permit the Colonists to govern themselves under their “parent’s” greedy eye. In this way they could easily impose their authority little by little. One of the first infringements upon the Colonists’ rights was the Dominion of New England. Replacing all of the different Colonies’ ruling structures with one administrative body headed by a governor, who was appointed by the king, this prevented the Colonists from making their own decisions because the governor’s loyalty obviously belonged to the king. Later, the Stamp Act created a tax intended to bring in revenue for the king. The Colonists were fine with protective taxes to prevent their foreign trading, but they felt that taxes based solely on revenue for Britain must be approved by the governing bodies of the Colonies. The Colonists truly believed that they possessed the same rights as any other British citizen while the Parliament of Great Britain was intent upon depriving them of their rights. Unsurprisingly, these policies chained the Colonists’ rights of self government, and created festering resentment, which eventually led to the American Revolution.